Vienna Mountain, Kennebec Highlands

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Vienna Mountain and its surrounding multi-use trails in blue; McGaffey Mountain trails in gray; Sanders Hill in peach.

On a clear day, under a wide open sky, standing amid Vienna Mountain’s purple-red blueberry barrens and the varying shades of distant blue mountains is an extraordinary experience. At this site, in the state-owned Kennebec Highlands, you’ll find one of the few places where you can see both Katahdin and Mount Washington. You can also spot Sugarloaf, Mt. Adams, Mt. Madison, Old Speck, the Baldpates, Mt. Blue, the Saddleback Range, Mt. Abraham, and other peaks — on a clear day.

The mountain’s relative isolation, combined with its treeless summit (1,177 feet), makes for views that are better than mountains twice the height. It’s also reached via a relatively easy, short hike along the dirt Vienna Mountain Road (the shortest of several different approaches), allowing you to spend more time on the open field. Several eroded tracks criss-cross the barrens, making it possible to walk between the north and south summits and to check out the picturesque, abandoned farmhouse at the bottom of the hill. When blueberries are in season, bring a container for harvesting!

Even on a gloomy or overcast day, the mountain is worth visiting: wild blueberry fields take on different characters in changing lights.

Unlike other peaks in the Kennebec Highlands, like Sanders Hill and Round Top, Vienna Mountain doesn’t have maintained, blazed footpaths. Instead, the network of trails on the mountain are multi-use trails (mostly snowmobile trails), herd paths, and drive-able dirt roads. You might encounter some overgrown or muddy areas, but for multi-use trails, these are pleasant trails to walk.

When there’s no snow, you can drive up the narrow gravel Vienna Mountain Road to access the paths to the barrens very quickly. There are several places where you can easily leave a car alongside the dirt road. I had no problems on this road with my low-clearance car.

But in the wintertime, since the road is not plowed, you must begin your walk farther down Vienna Mountain Road. It’s about 1.2 miles to the blueberry barren summit from the parking area. The dirt road heads uphill before reaching a side path, on the left, to a view. Back on the main route, the road dips slightly before gently climbing again until you reach the side paths to the barrens, on your right.

If you’d like to extend your walk to visit Kidder Pond, keep heading north/straight on the main dirt road (it starts off as Vienna Mountain Road and turns into Kidder Pond Road). The turn-off to the 0.4-mile trail to the pond is about about half a mile beyond the farmhouse and 1.7 miles from the year-round parking area on Vienna Mountain Road. Additionally, you can continue your walk along multi-use trails to McIntire Pond, which is smaller than Kidder but just as beautiful. Note: the path that hugs Kidder Pond on the way to McIntire Pond can be quite rough and unmaintained. I marked this path with a narrow line in my map.)

Distances to Vienna Mountain from different trailheads: Starting on Cross Road, the hike to the summit is about 2.2 miles. The approach from York Hill Farm Road is about 4.3 miles. You can also make your way to Vienna Mountain from McGaffey Mountain, on the eastern side of the Highlands, a roughly 4.7-mile hike. You can also walk from the Sanders Hill Loop via the Highland’s multi-use trails.

Map information, hike information, and photos contributed by Sam Shirley.

Directions: For the quickest route up Vienna Mountain, use the Vienna Mountain Road access. In winter and mud season, you’ll have to park where the road stops being plowed; there will likely be a barricade with a “road closed” sign. (Be sure to not block the nearby snowplow turnaround, according to a weathered sign.) During the rest of the year, high-clearance cars and some low-clearance cars can drive closer to the summit. Additional places to park and walk in are on Cross Road, York Hill Road, and Watson Pond Road. See the Google map above for these locations.